‘deep Cuts’ Creators Scythe Studios Dish On What Makes This Movie-themed Vr Experience As Unique As It Is (interivew)

Virtual Reality is starting to hit its stride. Allowing developers to get weirder and wilder than we could have ever imagined. Deep Cuts is the culmination of all of this wackiness brought to life. By entering fictitious B-Movies that totally exist and living out dream scenarios through them. It’s right up my alley in every way, shape, and form. It’s also one of the most entertaining and well-written games I’ve played in VR, offering a great campaign and plenty of sights and sounds to see and experience. There’s really nothing quite like this one, and I can’t wait for folks to fall in love with it.

I had the opportunity to speak with Creative Director and Writer Aniello DeAngelis, as well as Principal Technical Engineer, Director and Founder of Sycthe Studios Kaleb Alfadda about the work that has gone into Deep Cuts, what makes it unique, and how it stands out from their previous game, Happy’s Humble Burger Farm.

Screenshot: Scythe Dev Team

Following in the cult success of ‘Happy’s Humble Burger Farm’, do you find yourself needing to push the boundaries of what VR horror has to offer?

Aniello: VR horror is a tricky field because you’re asking a lot more of the player. You don’t want to scare them out of the headset. So, it became about analyzing what elements of horror we wanted to implement: psychological, emotional, physical, etc. And spreading those out in digestible chunks.

Screenshot: Scythe Dev Team

Happy’s Humble Burger Farm’ looked to be a riff on the popular ‘mascot horror’ trend. But it ended up being much more frightening than fans may have anticipated. What went into the design process for this title?

Aniello: A little different, haha. When Kaleb pitched wanting to do a hub-and-spoke game, I spent a week playing Banjo-Kazooie and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. Something about Banjo’s world and rhythm with Tony Hawk’s endless environmental manipulation helped shape this totally physical chaotic world we could explore any genre in. Also, I probably watched 600 movies over the dev cycle? Never stop studying.

Screenshot: Scythe Dev Team

‘Deep Cuts’ has plenty of variety in its walls. But I have to ask: which “totally real movie” was your favorite to create, and why?

Aniello: Nuclear Wedding. Production was such a blur that we genuinely do not remember the act of sitting down and writing the chapter. So, whenever we play through the levels, we’re really pleased with the world-building. And that we were able to get a Funny Games reference into a video game.

Screenshot: Scythe Dev Team

One thing about ‘Deep Cuts’ that I didn’t expect is that it’s actually quite hilarious. When it comes to writing games, how do you balance humor and horror? The “clerk” behind the desk at the Theater took me off guard, and I was laughing for a good bit after that.

Aniello: Humor and horror are so connected. We usually laugh at horrifying things simply because they aren’t happening to us. Something I learned from Kenneth Lonergan — the world does not stop laughing even if it’s actively burning down around you. So, don’t be afraid to get comedic jabs in if it initially feels inconsiderate to the scene’s emotional integrity.

Screenshot: Scythe Dev Team

‘Deep Cuts’ is your first VR project. Do you plan on returning to the medium in the future? Or do you think that flat screen is the way to go from this point on?

Aniello: I started working in VR back in 2017 for Tribeca Film Festival. So, it has a very special place in my heart. That said, it is an incredibly challenging platform to develop for that I don’t think the public is truly cognizant of. However, constraints breed creativity, and I’ll never say no to a fun challenge. There just needs to be the proper investment and care for game titles on the platform to continue moving forward with it.

Screenshot: Scythe Dev Team

When it comes to developing games between flat screen and VR, what has been the most difficult challenge when it comes to working between these two mediums?

Kaleb: With flat screens, you’re mostly thinking in terms of 2D layouts and traditional control schemes. But, VR demands a deep sense of presence — everything from spatial interactions to reducing motion sickness becomes a design challenge. You really have to rethink user input and environmental feedback to make it feel natural, but also not limiting to players who want more of an intense experience.

Screenshot: Scythe Dev Team

After diving into ‘Deep Cuts’ and getting to mess around with the physics, I walked away rather impressed with how good everything felt overall. What was the easiest — and most difficult — part of creating a unique VR experience such as this?

Kaleb: Thank you! We really appreciate that. We spent a significant amount of time trying to tweak things between feeling good and also being fun to interact with. The hard part is nailing that balance between immersion and usability. It takes a lot of tweaking to ensure the physics not only looks good but also feels intuitive without causing discomfort for the player. Once you find that ‘sweet spot’ with mass, drag, etc, it’s a matter of balancing things around that.

Screenshot: Scythe Dev Team

What goes into the process of creating an indie game? And how do you manage to create one that stands out from the crowd? 

Kaleb: Just get weird with it! It’s a blend of creative vision and practical problem-solving. We aim for moments where a player thinks: “Did that really just happen?”

You start with a strong concept and prototype, then iterate on gameplay, art, and story until everything aligns. It’s important to have a concept that sounds badass but also has unique mechanics to back it up, and above all, it must be fun to play even at its most basic element.

---

I would like to thank both Kaleb Alfadda and Aniello DeAngelis from Scythe Studios for taking time out of their busy schedules to speak with me about Deep Cuts. Deep Cuts is available now on the Meta Quest store, Steam, and PS VR 2.

The post ‘Deep Cuts’ Creators Scythe Studios Dish on What Makes This Movie-Themed VR Experience as Unique as It Is (Interivew) appeared first on VICE.